Exploring How to Be Considerate of Other Visitors

What Your Group Will Learn

After participating in this activity plan, which is designed to help
participants learn about the importance of being considerate of other visitors,
participants will be able to

Describe the ways they can be considerate of other visitors.

Help others to improve their behavior, thus improving
everyone's experience.

This activity will help the participants think about how their actions affect
other people's experiences in the backcountry. It will also help them think
about how to ensure all users have a good experience.

Materials and Preparation

Materials

Backpacks full of gear for a hike

Two stick horses and two mountain bikes or two mountain
bikers and two horse riders

Preparation

Read the entire lesson plan and the Background on the
Principles of Leave No Trace thoroughly.

Have the group bring full backpacks as though they were
going on an overnight campout.

Assign two individuals to bring their mountain bikes and
borrow or build two stick horses.

As an option, arrange for two local mountain bike club
members and two horse riders to assist with the activity.

Contact the Backcountry Horsemen of America and
International Mountain Bicycling Association for literature, videos, etc.,
on their activity.

Grabbing Your Group's Attention (10 minutes)

Your group has been excited for weeks about hiking into White Pine Lake. As
you arrive at the trailhead to the lake, group members grab their packs and head
up the trail, running, shouting, and kicking up their heels in fun. As you round
the first bend, a group of youths, quite unfamiliar with horses, comes riding
toward you down the steep trail on horseback.

Ask group members what changes they need to make in their behavior to allow
the horse riders to pass safely by on the trail. What kind of behavior would
help create a good relationship with these horse riders or other horse riders in
the future? (Stop and make no sound, move off the trail and let the horses pass
by, continue down the trail and hope the horse riders get by OK with their own
skills.)

Steps for Teaching the Activity (20 minutes)

Doing Unto Others

Ask group members how they would have felt encountering the group on
horseback. What was their first reaction? What were their first thoughts? Would
they have felt better if they had known beforehand what to do? Few hikers know
they should pull off on the downhill side of the trail when encountering horse
riders, and that a little conversation as you pass by one another may reduce the
chance of the horses being spooked.

Ask the group what they should do if they are on the trail and are overtaking
those on horseback. Horse riders need to be aware and remember the hiker is
packing a load and has a right to be on the trail, too. Ideally the horse riders
will find a good spot and let you pass. Here again, a little light conversation
as you pass will reduce the chances of spooking the horses. Hikers may also want
to consider taking off their packs so horses won't wonder what those strange
things on their backs are.

Select one or two from your group to ride mountain bikes down a trail and a
couple others to ride stick horses down the trail, or consider recruiting a
couple of local mountain bike club members and horse riders to ride down the
trail. Have the remainder of the group hike up the trail and demonstrate how to
show respect for other users while passing the horse riders and those on the
mountain bikes. The mountain bikers should slow down and/or stop their mountain
bikes to let the hikers pass.

After the hikers have passed the horse riders and mountain bikers, pull the
group back together at an appropriate location on a hardened surface off the
trail for discussion. How did the horse riders feel about the hikers, and how
did the hikers feel about the mountain bikers? If everyone shows respect for
other users, all can share the trail and the outdoors without affecting the
outdoor experience of others.

Other points for discussion to minimize the group's impact on other users may
include the following. Thoughtful campers

Travel and camp in small groups (no more than the group size
prescribed by land managers).

Keep noise down and leave radios, tape players, and pets at
home.

Select campsites away from other groups to help preserve
their solitude.

Always travel and camp quietly to avoid disturbing other
visitors.

Make sure the colors of their clothing and gear blend with
the environment.

Respect private property and leave gates (open or closed) as
found.

Are considerate of other campers and respect their privacy.

Are friendly and smile as they encounter other visitors and
avoid long conversations unless the other group exhibits an interest in
talking.

Any of these efforts work to create better understanding and appreciation
between different backcountry user groups, which benefits us all.

Wrapping Up the Activity (10 minutes)

Your campers are very considerate of all users of the backcountry! They know
how to show respect for a variety of different users.

How well have they learned what to do to make the
experiences of all users experiences more enjoyable?

Have participants brainstorm how, as a group to, set the
example for being considerate of other visitors they meet.

Challenge them to be the premier example of how one should
act and respect others who will, in turn, have a desire to do likewise.

Congratulations on conducting a well-prepared meeting for your group!

Additional Activities

Discuss with the group the following.

How would you like it if someone

(Add your own ideas to the list based on your group.)

Knocked down your tent?

Put water in your sleeping bag?

Shouted while you were watching a deer?

Visit an equestrian group or horseback riding stable to
learn more about the characteristics of horses. Invite members of the
Backcountry Horsemen of America or other horse riding groups to visit with
your group.

Meet with your local mountain bike club or write for
information on mountain biking from the International Mountain Bicycling
Association, which has adopted Leave No Trace as part of its rules for the
trail. You can write to the IMBA at International Mountain Bicycling
Association, P.O. Box 7578, Boulder, CO 80306.